New York City's mayoral race just got a whole lot spicier with a shocking poll showing socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani's once-comfortable lead over independent Andrew Cuomo shrinking faster than a cheap sweater in the wash, as the Daily Caller reports.
A Suffolk University poll released Monday reveals Mamdani, the Democratic Party nominee, clinging to a mere 10-point advantage over Cuomo, a former governor running as an independent, with just over a week until Election Day on Nov. 4.
Let’s rewind to mid-September, when Mamdani, a self-described socialist, was basking in a Suffolk University poll with 45.0% support among likely voters, while Cuomo trailed far behind at 25.2%.
Fast forward to the latest poll, conducted Oct. 23-26 across all five boroughs, where Mamdani’s support dipped to 43.8%, Cuomo surged to 33.6%, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa lagged at 10.8%, with 7.2% still undecided.
Cuomo’s gains are nothing short of stunning, halving his deficit in a single month, particularly among Hispanic voters, where he flipped a 30-point deficit into a 1-point lead.
Independents also swung hard for Cuomo, turning an 18-point gap in Mamdani’s favor into a 10-point edge for the ex-governor -- proof that New Yorkers might be tiring of progressive promises that don’t deliver.
But it’s not just numbers shifting; Mamdani’s campaign trail choices are raising eyebrows, like his Oct. 17 post on X featuring a photo with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a figure law enforcement once named as a potential unindicted conspirator in the tragic 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six and injured over 1,042.
While no charges were filed against Wahhaj, the association fuels ongoing scrutiny of Mamdani’s views on antisemitism, a sore spot for many in a city that values unity over divisive optics.
Cuomo, despite losing the Democratic Party nomination to Mamdani on June 24, still holds party registration but chose the independent path -- a move that seems to resonate with voters wary of ideological extremes on either side.
Endorsements are another battlefield: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, representing NYC in Congress, finally backed Mamdani on Friday after months of dodging questions. That is a lukewarm nod that hardly screams confidence.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history who represents NYC, has stayed silent on Mamdani. What a glaring omission that speaks volumes to those paying attention.
On the flip side, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his ill-fated independent bid in late September, threw his weight behind Cuomo on Thursday, a jab at Mamdani’s progressive agenda that could sway moderates.
Dig into the poll’s voter motivations, and the divide gets clearer: 79.45% of Mamdani’s supporters are voting for him, while only 6.85% are just anti-Cuomo, showing a solid base but not a passionate one.
Contrast that with Cuomo’s camp, where 40.48% support him directly, but nearly as many -- 39.88% -- are simply voting against Mamdani, suggesting his comeback is as much about rejection of socialist policies as it is about his own appeal.
With 500 likely voters surveyed via live telephone interviews in English and Spanish, and a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 points, this Suffolk University poll paints a race teetering on the edge -- will New Yorkers opt for Mamdani’s bold leftward vision, or Cuomo’s pragmatic, if checkered, experience? It’s a question that keeps the Big Apple buzzing as Election Day looms.
